Oblivion
by classicallyclassic
Summary: Abused, beaten...violated. She had fallen into oblivion. Seto/Anzu
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own YuGiOh.

**A/N: **Yay!! Another Seto/Anzu fic. This idea just randomly formed in my head. It had been swirling around for days but I only just organized it enough to be able to type. I read on Wikipedia, under YuGiOh R! that Anzu had been brutally forced to give up her innocence. Yuugi and Jounouchi had found out and dueled for revenge. The manga chapter was never published because of the maturity of the contents. In this story, however, everyone will be kept in the dark. No one will know what had happened until some point later in the story. This will center on Anzu and how she deals with the situation.

It wasn't fair. She had been utterly foolish to believe that everyone had even an iota of goodness in them; that it was an impossibility to be completely devoid of humanity. The reality had slapped her. Hard. Repeatedly. Literally. Until she saw only the black…without the white.

She'd been exposed to the cruelest actuality; to mankind's dormant savagery, barbarity and bestiality. It was dormant only until given the opportunity to let loose, surface, and scar the unsuspecting victim.

She was the victim. A victim of the harshest abuse, almost impossible to endure. But endure it she had to. She was still alive, however unfortunate it was. She was going to remain alive, unless she chose to commit suicide. She wasn't at that stage quite yet. It wasn't as though the thought wasn't going to present itself, though the spark of temptation had been lit. She was sure it would. When? She was unaware. Perhaps when the truth of her situation, her position, sunk its claws in deep and forced her to face the veracity of it.

Yes, she was currently at the stage where denial seemed to illegitimize the state of affairs. As she walked to her home, where no one but her resided, in torn clothes, skin marred with bruises and scars, there were no traces of tears present. She didn't need to cry. After all, this was just some nightmare. Yes, she was going to wake up and none of this would have existed. She could continue her life as she planned to, as she _meant _to. Because this, this didn't equate in her, hitherto perfect life at all. If she hadn't foreseen this coming, it wasn't going to ensue, right? No. It wasn't.

It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. But repeating the phrase in her mind didn't bring the comfort she had hoped. Instead, it made her gut clench with unreasonable, definitely unreasonable, contradictions.

"I'll go home, sleep and wake up to find this non-existent," she muttered to herself in a fierce voice, daring her mind to challenge.

_Oh, but it is existing. It will continue to exist. There is nothing you and I can do about this, Anzu. Accept what happened to you tonight and, perhaps, the journey will be a little easier. _Her mind did dispute and she hated it. She wasn't going to accept it. Never. She hadn't done anything, _anything, _to deserve such a punishment.

_You're being uncharacteristically selfish, Anzu Do you really believe that other victims of this heinous crime _deserved _what befell them? _The voice sounded eternally disappointed and the impact of the thought that went through her mind hit her like a ton of bricks. Had she really thought that?

_You did. _She was losing her sanity. She was thinking things she'd never even dreamed of thinking. She trembled in the chilly night air as the school uniform provided only minimal warmth, and that, only to her upper body. Her bare legs soon began to dot with goose bumps. Her bed was calling to her. The sooner she reached her destination, the sooner she could wake up to find this all a subconscious trip to hell.

The denial was still active and carrying its designated job to perfection. Anzu voluntarily turned deaf to the voice that was willing her accept something that _never occurred._

"It never occurred, it never occurred, it never occurred," she kept whispering firmly to herself, longing for the reassurance that _should've_ arrived, but didn't. As hard as she attempted to deny it, the inner voice had sown the seed of doubt. But she wasn't going to allow it to grow. She was going to curb it. She had to. Her mentality, her very life depended on it. She was going to lose what tiny shred of hope she was desperately left clinging on. She couldn't, wouldn't permit herself to accept the unacceptable.

So engrossed was she in her convoluted thoughts, that she neglected to observe her entrance into her neighborhood. She was disappointed to discover that the feeling of security that usually accompanied her entry didn't bloom in her chest. Instead, she felt afraid. Never had she ever felt fear such as this before. As hard as she endeavored to fixate her eyesight ahead of her, she felt it dart quickly from side to side, in evident trepidation, and then quickly to the back. The hint of even the smallest of sounds reaching her ear had her wavering. Her distrust of all things living was adding to the stress and her already tumultuous emotions were begging to be released. Paranoia had commenced too quickly, to fast for her to even realize that it had ingrained itself within her.

Upon arriving at her sizable yet modest habitation, she fumbled in her pockets for the keys with quivering hands. Her skin failed to make contact with the metal and she momentarily panicked, searching behind her for any sign of danger with wide, frightened eyes. She had to enter her house to deem herself even a little bit safe. After assuring herself of the absence of another being, she proceeded to clear her mind of its apprehension. Seeking and finding a moment of clarity, she recalled owning a spare key that she kept underneath the pot plant that stood on her front porch. After hastily retrieving it, she placed it in the lock and successfully opened the door with hesitant hands.

Letting another deep breath enter through her parched lips, she searched her immediate vicinity for any sign of misplaced objects. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, and consequently assuring herself that her house hadn't been broken into, she advanced further in her home and towards the stairs.

She was more than disposed to put this day behind her. And never reflect on it again. After all, she still believed it to be nothing more than a vivid nightmare. The foundation, however, had wavered a little.

As she entered her cozy, cream colored bedroom, exhaustion crashed over Anzu in such a painful wave that she overlooked her attire. At that moment, she couldn't be concerned with anything besides her much needed sleep. Carelessly shrugging her shoes of at the edge of the bed, she flopped down on the piece of furniture. She was dead to the world before she could summon the ability to command her arms to cover her with her blanket.

Anzu's bleary sapphire eyes reluctantly opened to the sunlit morning. Glancing sleepily at her alarm clock, she noted the time and looked away…before suddenly snapping her irises towards the object once more. If she wasn't awake before, she sure as hell was now.

Not being able to recollect the events of the night before in the mind that was too preoccupied with her loss of perfect punctuality, she hastily clambered off the bed with the absence of grace that otherwise complemented her every move. Muttering colorful expletives under her breath, she dashed into her bathroom, smiling slightly at the silent invitation her shower presented her with.

Only to stop short as she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She wished fervently that she hadn't. Her once flawless skin sported imperfections that could only be described as bruises. Her once cherry lips were split and swollen. Her hair lacked the luster she was so proud of. It wasn't Anzu Mazaki starring back at her. It was someone else; someone who had been violated; someone whose purity had been snatched in the most torturous manner. Her body was no longer her own.

Recollection after recollection, image after image detailed with lurid clarity suddenly bombarded her mind, pulling her every which way at once. The mantra from the previous night that had kept back the reality, that had become her companion, her friend, disappeared, leaving not a trace behind. She absently ran her fingertips over the bruises and the scars on her reflection, feeling the cool smoothness of the mirror underneath her skin. It should've had a calming effect, had the circumstances not been so dire.

She lifted her fingers from the mirror and hesitatingly, placed them on her face, tracing the ugly discolorations. She ignored the jolts of pain that accompanied her tender touch. The ache from her bruises brought her further inside the realm of reality with such force that she couldn't find in herself the power to break free.

The moment was here. She had to face the actuality, the undeniability of the fact, or completely go insane. The former, however undesirable, at least guaranteed maintenance of some of her sense. So she did, and it wasn't as difficult as she had imagined, or hoped.

She shattered as the long refuted truth pierced itself through her very subconscious. Tears that had longed for freedom spilled over cerulean eyes and marked their eternal territory on her cheeks. Her body shook with unsuppressed sobs as her knees buckled and she slid to the floor of the bathroom. School was forgotten (not like she was of the mind frame to learn anyhow). World was forgotten. Only her pain existed.

"No, no, no. Why?" she whispered ferociously albeit in a broken, raspy voice. Her throat felt tight, constricted. Her breathing was harsh, ragged, the sound interrupted by almost constant sniffles. She neither attempted to dry her tears, nor to wipe the snot that escaped her nose. It was too much to endure.

Grief gave way to rage and in a fit of hysterics, Anzu began scratching her arms with her nails, willing the remnant of the foreign touch to vanish. She ignored the appearance of the red liquid and the sharp sting as her nails continued to inflict further damage her soft skin. She didn't care. Not anymore.

She knew not how long she remained on the floor, shaking, trembling, weeping. Her eyes felt dehydrated so she deduced that her tears had ceased a while ago. The ache, now much more acute, lingered and she could safely assume that it always would. It was improbably, nay impossible for her to be the person she once was. She had lost a part of herself, one she would never regain. The fantasies of perfection she had hoped for had been smashed to smithereens.

She had lost her girlish charm, a vital component of her perky personality. She had become a woman before she had been ready.

She stood slowly on wobbly legs, disregarding the dried little puddles of blood on the tiles and the sticky residue on her arms. She stifled her desire to once again look in the mirror, opting instead to shed her clothes and enter the shower.

Turning the knob for hot water and overlooking the stings that erupted when the water made contact with her tender skin, she assembled her chaotic thoughts into an imperfect order and allowed her mind to wander to Yuugi and the boys. She wondered how she was going to face them, not when she felt so filthy…so dirty. She was aware that betraying her secret to her best friends would lead to an absence of normality that she was wishing for. Things would become awkward and she would lose the stability that her boys provided. No, it was better for them to remain in the dark. She would tell them one day, only when she was ready.

She was sure that Yuugi would be worried as to why she failed to show up at school today. She would have to lie and she was conscious of the fact that it would be the first of many. She was already beginning to feel rotten. She had never lied (she wasn't very good) before and was hoping that there would never come a time when she would feel the need to. Her justifications of the reason didn't offer comfort. Yuugi knew her well, too well. She would make herself less transparent by acting as herself as she convincingly could and hope that Yuugi didn't still see through.

Raw. She had scrubbed her skin raw. It was purely an unconscious gesture but she didn't regret it. Grabbing the towel from the rack, she wrapped it around her chest and exited the steamy bathroom, making a mental note to clean up the mess she had created. Sighting her school uniform, she picked it up and decided to wash it later for school tomorrow. She would have to go, no matter how much she didn't want to. The more she missed, the likelier that the boys would be more suspicious. She determined it would be easier and more successful if she lied while they were less concerned. She could at least avoid their well-meant interrogation after her health.

Quickly walking over to the window, she yanked the curtains close, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her bedroom was on the second floor. Moving onto her closet, she absently picked an outfit that was rather conservative, consisting of a pair of jeans and a full-sleeved black shirt. Eyeing her bed, she settled that it would be beneficial to take a nap and temporarily halt her thoughts. Lying down, she once again drifted towards her boys and hoped prayed for the strength she needed to face them with lies.

"Please God, I hope that this doesn't put a dent in our friendship. I need it, now more than ever. Don't, please don't take it away," she murmured fervently with interlocked fingers resting on her bowed forehead. A few more tears spilled unnoticed.

A few blocks away, a tricolored haired, short statured boy with a golden triangle around his neck found his focus wavering from the tedious lecture and frowned. He gazed towards Anzu's seat, eyes glazing over with concern, and tried to ignore the vague sense of foreboding that settled in his stomach.

A few seats away, Seto Kaiba caught the direction of the boy's gaze, interpreted the emotion, and smirked. _One crony missing and already he's worried. Their dependency on each other is sickening. Tch, pathetic. _

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think and no flames, please.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **I can't apologize enough for my absence. I encountered a severe case of writer's block and just couldn't come up with the words. I attempted many times to write something down and failed. This chapter is short but it was the best I could do. I am sorry to say that there are many developments here but this story will go at a slow pace. Things are going to happen all at once. Time will be an essential element. Forgive me and enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yugioh.

He couldn't ever recall worrying to such proportions. His whole stomach was writhing, clenching and unclenching in a nauseous manner. For the entirety of the day, Yugi's gaze had drifted to Anzu's desk with disturbing frequency. He couldn't, for the life of him, outline the exact reason behind his distress. Anzu was absent, but absences, even for students like Anzu, were rather common. Perhaps, it was due to the fact that she attended school with such habit, even while having more than enough ground to remain home. Her sudden lack of presence was…bizarre. Abnormal, even.

It wasn't powerful enough to convince Yugi into easing his mind. The unpleasant sensations from the pit of his stomach still continued. Only now, the magnitude had increased with the addition of a vague, but nonetheless present, sense of foreboding.

He didn't like it. Something had transpired. And he intended on finding out after school.

As much as he tried to dismiss such ridiculousness from his mind, Seto Kaiba, more than reluctantly, wondered how Miss Perfect Attendance had skipped today. Not having her (much unwanted) figure in his line of vision was uncanny. After all, she did sit in front of him, however much he detested that fact. It was an irregularity. And he despised irregularity.

_Hmph, whatever. If she remains absent, it will become regular and everything will be fine. _

Anzu abruptly shot up in her bed, drenched in sweat, tears mapping a wet trail along the skin of her face. The trail of fear, self-disgust, and pain. Her chest was convulsing from her rapid breathing and the pounding of her heart had accelerated to an intolerable degree. Deep within the hollows of her mind, the wish that the organ would stop beating so convulsively, altogether, whispered eerily and she couldn't find it within herself to refute it.

For to die was what she indeed wanted. Desired. Needed.

Image after image of the gruesome nightmare flashed across her mind, stilling for a horrible second like a psycho's slideshow, as if forcing itself into every cell of her being…spreading itself into the deepest corners of her torn soul.

And remaining there, refusing to leave.

Bile rose into her throat, the putrid taste spreading across her tastebuds. On painfully trembling legs, Anzu stood…only to collapse into a retching heap on her bedroom floor. For a few moments afterwards, she continued in that position, watching with disturbing intensity her tears plopping into her mess. Wearily and reluctantly, she raised her head to glance at her digital clock, quickly noting the time.

3:30.

Regaining some much needed sense, though not even attempting to halt her tears (futile, she knew), she made her way to the full-length mirror hanging behind the door. Each step brought her dreadfully close to what she fervently hoped wouldn't be reality. She prayed to God to allow her to see unmarred, glowing skin, and unswollen lips. Seconds before arriving in front of the mirror, she felt her lids droop over her eyes, as if frightened to discover what they might see.

Taking a few deep breaths, she willed her orbs to open slowly, all the while enduring the stomach churning fear that was, once again, seeping into her every pore. Azures opened to reveal a ghastly reflection.

Bruises, cuts, marred skin, bloodshot eyes stared back at her. She felt it for the first time. The bone chilling soreness that accompanied her every movement. She saw it for the first time. The dried up blood stuck to the inside of her thighs.

And every hope and dream now lay in broken, fragmented glass. Anzu's knees gave way and she crumpled to the floor, numb to the stinging pain of glass entering her skin…unaware of anything and everything except the echoing _**fact**_ that she had indeed been raped.

_Real. It had all been real. Oh, God. It's over._

Another. Yet another shadow crept up within him and Yuugi decided that he could no longer afford to just placate his, what he hoped were misplaced worries, with a phone call to Anzu. He had never felt anything so dark…so _grotesque. _He wanted to see her. No needed to see her, His very sanity depended on it. His legs began trembling with the effort to remain in front of his locker long enough to empty his arms of the burden of books they carried. Hastily turning the lock, all the while cursing his fingers for their inability to move at a reasonable speed (for they were all but spasming), he finally succeeded in opening the damned object. All but shoving his books inside, he retrieved the books necessary for homework from the metal compartment, dumped them unceremoniously into his bag, attempting to close the locker and the zipper on his back at the same time.

Every second he spent here was gnawing at him. The need to visually make sure she was alright was gaining strength exponentially. Heedless to the coalescing voices of his friends and schoolmates, he, at last, managed to gather his belongings and close his locker in a more dignified manner. Quickly muttering a quick good bye to Katsuya and ignoring his confused calls, Yuugi began running out of the school, praying for the absence of any further interruptions.

Contrary to popular belief, Seto Kaiba wasn't as detached as he'd had everyone believe. He had, unwillingly, of course, been observant of Yuugi's strange behavior. In class, the midget had been uncharacteristically absent-minded, while supporting an even more atypical frown on his face. And after school, the idiot's hands were trembling in such a manner, that Kaiba was, frankly, surprised that he hadn't dropped his books. There had been a bizarre sense of urgency in his mannerisms and the look on his face had been growing more worrisome by the minute. Suffice it to say, this had sparked Kaiba's curiosity. One had to be, bluntly speaking, a complete fool to not comprehend that Yuugi's strangeness was most likely to be attested to Mazaki's absence. After all, the violet gaze of his rival had remained practically glued to the seat in front of him the whole day.

Yuugi continued running with as much speed as could be allowed given his short stature. He repeatedly cursed the absence of long legs, ignoring his rapidly beating heart and panting breaths. Anzu was his priority and his health couldn't compare. Her house wasn't all that distant from the school either, but the current state of his mind distorted the distance so that it seemed infinite.

Turning the corner into the familiar rows of houses, Yuugi allowed himself to alter his pace to a more comfortable one, while catching his breath. He needed it to talk to her. He sighed in relief upon gazing at the modest home, his trepidation somewhat decreasing to know that it was still in one piece. Walking up the steps to the front door, a strange hesitation overtook his body, halting his uplifted hand before it made contact with the mahogany colored structure. Shaking his head in an attempt to disregard the momentary annoyance, he brought his knuckles forward and knocked.

Startled and feeling the familiar horror slowly creep up on her, Anzu barely stifled her scream. Putting both her hands in front of her mouth, she attempted to catch her breath and reduce the frantic beating of her recently normalized heart. Getting out of the bathroom and turning towards her bedroom window, she shakily looked out and down through the glass, she endeavored to place the identity of the intruder. Looking upon the familiar spiky-haired head, the expected relief to embed itself within. She was flabbergasted to learn that no such feeling entered her body. It was the complete opposite.

_Oh, God! What is Yuugi doing here?_

The question raced through her distressed mind. She couldn't…_couldn't_ face him right now. Her emotional condition would not allow her to at all speak with him. She could barely form a coherent sentence in her mind, and to verbally assure him of her well-being at the moment was unfeasible. Yuugi was too perceptive when it came to her. Seeing her more than obvious distraught appearance would provoke questions she wasn't ready to answer yet.

Her dazed mind frantically attempted to thwart the rapidly approaching encounter, coming up with myriad of ideas all at once. Her thoughts were too jumbled. There were too many emotions and her willingness to keep her body upright was swiftly slipping. Feeling the onslaught of vertigo, she forced her legs towards her bed, and all but crumbled upon it, allowing the skin of her eyelids to cover her azure irises.

After having knocked and failing to receive a response, Yuugi's recently halted foreboding hit him with all the strength of a sledgehammer. Turning his from head side to side while cataloguing through his mind to remember where the extra key to her house rested. Sighing as the image arrived, Yuugi turned around and through to the well kept garden to the right side of the house and retrieving the key from deep within the potted plants. Ignoring the suddenly cold stickiness of his hands, he treaded back, opened the door and entered.

**AN: **Constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **How do I apologize? I'm just having a tough time with this story. I want to be as accurate with it as possible, and that's making writing it difficult. I'm really sorry. I hope you guys stick with me through this. It's going to take a while and the chapters are, most likely, going to be short. But, I'm working on it. Thank you for all your favourites, reviews, and alerts. They boost my motivation like nothing else!

Anzu waited for the inevitable entrance of Yuugi into her house. Despite wanting him to turn away and go back, she knew it wouldn't happen. She didn't see any point in delaying the unavoidable. If she didn't face him today, then she would some other day.

The reasoning didn't ease the nerves that were coiling unpleasantly in her stomach.

Would he notice the physical differences in her appearance? The bruises were safely hidden underneath the red turtleneck sweater and the faded jeans, but the bags underneath her eyes were prominent. The sickly paleness of her skin and the limpness of her hair would also be noticeable.

She remained sitting in her bed, the sound of Yuugi opening the front door and his footfalls aimlessly entering her ears and causing her to grip her sheets in a tightly clenched fist. Sitting up straighter, back aching with the tension and fear simpering under her skin, she plastered a fake smile on her face.

Anzu walked swiftly towards the door, opening it and meeting Yuugi's surprised gaze. His hand was loosely fisted, lifted as if preparing to knock.

"Yuugi!" Anzu's voice was chirpy, light and giddy with a pretentious happiness coating it. Yuugi's eyes narrowed slightly in response as he entered her room.

He stared at her for a few minutes, eyes resting on the bags hanging underneath sapphire orbs and dull hair.

"You weren't at school today," he intoned with a tentative voice. "I was worried since it's so unlike you."

Anzu was touched at the concern and guilt began gnawing at her. She bit her lip subconsciously, drawing Yuugi's gaze towards the split.

"What happened to your lip!" Yuugi's exclamation snapped Anzu out of her reverie and she mentally scolded herself for drawing his attention to the injury.

"I…I," she stuttered, formulating plausible excuses. "I fell when I was dancing."

She looked into his eyes when she said that despite the desperation to turn away. There hadn't ever been any secrets between the two of them and she had never before outright lied to him either.

It was difficult to gaze into his familiar violet orbs while lying. Anzu had, for a moment, feared that he would see through her lie and that was something she was unprepared for. She had yet to fully accept her situation and telling him the truth when she was looking the other way would've been too much.

Anzu knew she could never tell him, or any one, the truth until she herself had accepted it as such. And considering her pace, she believed it would take a while.

Doubt flashed through Yugi's orbs fleetingly, causing a flare of panic to erupt inside Anzu. She squashed it only when the emotion receded.

Forcing a smile on her face, she asked, attempting to maintain her composure and steady her voice, "Anything to drink, Yugi?"

"Just water", he murmured, eyes gazing at Anzu's face from beneath thick, black lashes.

Not wanting to give him an opportunity to further inspect her face, Anzu scurried away downstairs into the kitchen, letting out a small sigh of relief as she entered. At that moment, she found Yugi's presence utterly stifling. She hated herself for feeling that way.

Anzu knew Yugi had something akin to a sixth-sense when it came to his friends. He seemed to know if something was wrong. He never called anyone in on it; he just seemed to know. His gaze would carry that worried spark, a hint of concern, the desire to know. It would induce such guilt in any one on the receiving end of that look that they would spill all their worries at his feet.

_Which is why I had to get away, even for a moment._

Anzu took as much time as would be appropriate in filling the glass with water. She needed to regroup in order to face Yugi again. She wasn't ready to tell him, damnit!

Steeling herself, she stepped out of the kitchen into the family room, trying to maintain a firm grip on the glass. She hoped, though futilely, that he wouldn't notice the faint trembling of her hands. Keeping her eyes on the coffee table in front of the couch occupying Yugi, she placed the glass in front of him as quickly as possible, retrieved her hands and hid them out of sight.

She couldn't meet his eyes, but she could feel him watching her.

"Are you going to be at school tomorrow?"

Unable to speak, Anzu just shook her head.

Not tomorrow. Not for a while.

She had to though, in order to maintain the appearance of normalcy. The longer she stayed away from school, the more people would raise questions. And the more difficult it would be to return to school.

Anzu swallowed and spoke, "I'll be there. Not tomorrow, but next week."

It was Wednesday today. Hopefully, the following days would give her enough time to mentally prepare herself for school.

She didn't need to see Yugi's expression to know that he understood. She heard the ruffling of clothes as her friend stood up.

"I'll go now," he intoned softly.

Anzu released a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. Self-loathing filled her at the relief she felt. Yugi saw it. She knew it was all too apparent on face.

She didn't bother standing and walking him to the door. Her legs wouldn't have been able to hold her up, liquefied as they felt. She was about to break down. It was all coming back. The terror was creeping up on her. She didn't want him to see it.

She heard the soft click as the door opened.

_Go! Please, just go, Yugi!_

"I hope you know that if you need anything, I'm here." And with that, he was gone.

Anzu buried her face in her hands as sobs overtook her body.

_Help me! _


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **I don't deserve any of your forgiveness. It appears that I am suffering from a bit of a writer's block with this story. Inspiration hits randomly, but it hits. As such, I can't promise regular updates. Hopefully that won't put you off. I do hope that you stick with me through this. Your reviews have been wonderful. Thanks ever so much. Enjoy the chapter!

_What was I thinking coming to school today? _

Anzu couldn't help the redundancy with which the question floated through her mind. Given the circumstances, it made sense. She had felt ready; felt it all the way to the school building, in fact.

Her confidence deflated significantly as she stood rooted to the spot in front of Domino High. There were too many people around and she could feel the stares boring in from all sides, penetrating through every inch of skin on her body.

She didn't have to be a mind-reader to have some idea of the thoughts that were currently plaguing her school-mates. She could hear the whispers in her own consciousness…mocking, berating, and pitying.

_Dirty slut! Whore!_

_I can't do it. I can't. I need to leave. Run…For God's sake, Anzu! Run! _

She had declined Yugi's offer to walk to school. Perhaps, his presence would have made the torture somewhat bearable.

Hindsight was 20/20.

Anzu's breath was beginning to come in pants. She could feel the wetness of sweat on her forehead and body. Everything was closing in on her. Her legs trembled as she pivoted on her heels and ran as fast as she could away from the school.

Seto Kaiba's icy blue eyes catalogued everything with a nonchalant, albeit curious light. He had kept his gaze on her from the moment she had entered the school grounds to the moment she had fled. Her reaction had triggered an onslaught of questions in his mind. He was having a hard time believing that he had just witnessed the great Anzu Mazaki all but break down.

Kaiba continued to lean against the tree in the yard, eyes still locked onto the place Mazaki had occupied only minutes before. Something must have happened; something that could explain both her absences and her near loss of control.

_Tch. Not my problem. _

Yugi frowned at being unable to find Anzu. He distinctly recalled her saying that she would show up on Wednesday. It was Wednesday today and there was no sign of the cerulean-eyed girl anywhere. The spiky-haired boy once again ignored the now familiar sense of worry that erupted every time he thought about Anzu. There had to be a logical reason behind Anzu's absence. Perhaps she was just late. With that thought firmly planted in mind (other explanations were not going to be conducive to his efforts to rid himself the persistent Anzu-anxiety), Yuugi trudged his way to class.

Yuugi was mentally busy reminding himself that Anzu was okay, and that it would not be long till she skipped in through the class room doors. He would see her soon and normalcy would return. He did not allow himself to believe otherwise. He wiped the image of his best friend's frail, exhausted form from his thoughts, the image that had haunted him every day since he had last seen her. He prevented the occurrence of disturbing answers that could potentially explain her condition.

_No! I will not think like that. _Yuugi ran the sentence through his mind redundantly. He slumped in his chair, body slouching forward and elbows coming to rest on wooden (rather cheap) desk in front of him. He buried his face in his hand, and after a while, rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. _Please, please show up! _His conscious begged and pleaded for Anzu to enter the class. He did not think his sanity would survive long.

"Yuugi," a rich, baritone voice called, the tone slightly mocking. Yuugi's body slumped further as he recognized the owner of the voice.

The boy in question did not deem it important to raise his head from his hands and make eye contact with Kaiba, choosing instead to muffle a soft "What?"

Kaiba raised a single eyebrow in a haughty manner at his rival's blatant display of disregard. A touch of anger simmered beneath the surface, and for a moment, Kaiba felt justified enough to keep his observation of Anzu a secret. Releasing a small, unnoticeable sigh, he decided not to be petty (he did not want to be at the same level as Yuugi) and spoke in a low tone, "I saw Mazaki this morning."

Yuugi's head snapped up with enough speed to result in a serious crack to stare at the tall brunette in front of him.

"Wh…what?" He stammered out. "What did you just say?"

Kaiba scoffed. "Do not make me repeat myself. You heard."

Yuugi's expression was begging for an elaboration as Kaiba continued to stare down at him with the inherently fixated arrogance on his features.

" Mazaki came to school this morning, had a panic attack, then ran away." And with that, Kaiba sauntered to his seat, determined that this would be the extent of his involvement in a case that was causing his curiosity to erupt like lava from a volcano.

Yuugi continued to gape at the spot Kaiba had just vacated, all logical, reasonable explanations for Anzu's behaviour disappearing. His worry returned twice as powerful, and Yuugi found that he could not stay the whole day at school now that he was positive something awful had happened. Having reached that conclusion, Yuugi picked up whatever was resting atop his desk, ran out of the class room, dumped his books in the locker and without retrieving any belongings, he sprinted out of the school, dread now gnawing at his insides like acid.

Anzu was curled on her brown, leather couch, a soft blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Her blank gaze was fixated on the coffee table in front of her, simultaneously seeing and unseeing the objects resting on it.

What a fool she had been to believe that she could walk amongst people again, filthy as she was. She was dirtied, used and thrown like a toy that had lost its appeal.

"What a perfect metaphor for what happened to me," she whispered to herself unfeelingly.

Her skin stung from her brutal scrubbing earlier. As soon as she had entered the house after the fiasco at school, she had scrambled to the bathroom, gagging all the way, and heaved out nothing but acid. Afterwards, she had gotten into the shower and proceeded to rub her skin till she bled. That was not enough, however. She still felt their hands on her body, giving her the feeling of something akin to the sensation of having worms crawling all over her. She could not bear to look at any part of her skin; not her hands, her feet, or her face. She was terrified of closing her eyes and succumbing to the exhaustion that hung over her like a dark cloud. She feared the nightmares and reliving the reality they brought. She was sinking, falling, closing in on herself.

Her sanity was slowly, but surely slipping.

Her parents were on extended vacation, and right now she was glad for that. She did not want to see their horrified, disgusted looks. This time, she was all alone. There was nothing, nobody that could help her.

No one. Not even Yuugi.

And that frightened her more than anything.


End file.
